Office



(No Model.)

z sheew-sheet 1. G. F. HEMENWAY. DEVICE FGR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

' I r f"- 2 N, PETERS. Pholo-Llllmglaphor. Washington. at.

- (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. P. HEMENWAY. DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

No. 397,498. I Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

Zzw/4% N PETERS. Phaln-Lnhagraphur, Washinglon. 0 c4 UNITED STATESPATENT. FFIGE.

CHARLES F. HEMEN WAY, OF IIO\VELL, MASSACIIUSE'I" S, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECTAND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF TlVO-THIRDC TO JAMES F. MCKISSOCK, OF

SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,498, dated February12, 1889.

Application filed July 1, 1886. Serial No. 206,755. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. HEMENWAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inDevices for Opening and Closing Doors, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to devices for open ing and closing doors,particularly of i'lre-engine houses and hose-carriage houses, the object of these devices being to open the doors autonnttically upon thedrawing of a bolt, to hold the doors open for a definite short time,long enough, however, to allow the engine or carriage to be drawn out ofits house, and then automatically to close the doors.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an inside elevation of a partof the wall and the doors of such a house, showing my improvcmcntapplied thereto; 2, a diagram or plan showing the front wall inhorizontal section at the ceiling, and the weight-shaft, the clock, andthe cords and pulleys which draw the bolts and which connect the doorsto the weights, the position of the doors when open being shown bydotted lines; Fig. 3, an elevation of the clock and the lockingmechanism held in position by the clock, the clock-case being invertical sec tion on the plane of the face of the lockinglevers; Fig. i,like Fig. 3, except that the lockii'ig-levers are released; Fig. 5, aside elevation of the clock-work, locking-levers, locking-hooks, thelower parts of the rope which connects the door and the weight, thefalling of which weightpulls the door open by means of said rope,showing the weight-shaft and clock-case in vertical section; Fig. 6, anisometric view, showing the position when the ropes are let go to allowthe doors to close, of the weights and the ropes which draw the boltsand which connect the doors to the weights, parts of the weightshaftbeing in section and parts being broken away to show said weights andropes.

A represents the wall of an engine-house; F, the floor; C, the ceiling;D D, the doors, one of which, D, is provided with a strip, d,

which overlaps the inner edge of the other door, I), toclose the crackor space between the doors when the same are closed; (1 (Z the hinges ofthe doors; B B, bolts secured to the door D and sliding into mortises inor sockets secured to the floor and ceiling; d d, spring-latches whichare secured to the door D and enter suitable sockets on or mortises inthe edge of the door D, all these parts being of the usual constructionand operation.

Secured to the ceiling near the door D is a pulley, P, over which andover another pulley, P, runs a cord or rope, It, one end of which hangsdown over the posit-ion occupied by the drivers seat when thehose-carriage or fire-engine is in its usual place .in the house, saidend being provided with a suitable ball, '7', adapted to be grasped bythe hand of the driver, the other end ot the rope R being at tached tothe horizontal arm of a bell-crank lever, Ii, pivoted at Z on the door1).

Near the inner edge of the door D on horizontal studs (1" d, projectingfrom said door, turn two grooved pulleys, p 19 over which run from thedownhanging arm Z of the lever L two cords or ropes, R R the end of oneof these ropes last namedbeing attached to one bolt, I3, and the end ofthe other rope to thebolt B, so that the driver, when all things areready, can, without leaving his seat, by grasping theball 0* an dpulling the rope R, draw both bolts of the door and allow the doors toopen. This construction is also in common use. It is also common toconnect the doors by cords to weight-s suspended at the ends of suchcords, so that when the bolts are drawn, as above described, the doorswill be opened by the running down of the weights.

I use the ropes R R in conjunction with weights to open. the doors,these ropes being attached at one end to screw-eyes r r at the inneredges of the doors near the tops of the same, and running over pulleys PP (one of the ropes running over another pulley, P rendered necessary bythe doors opening in opposite directions to allow ol' the weights bothbeing placed at the same side of the doors,) and over other pulleys, PP, placed immediately above the weights W W. As cominonly used, the endsof the ropes R B would be fastened to the weights \V W, the descent ofwhich would of course open the doors after the bolts were drawn, asabove describwl, the weights being at all times suspended when the doorsare closed and being raised by the closing of the doors.

weights \V W, l pass said ropes down under groovedpulleysuu", iournaledin ears [1- at,

which project from the tops oi said weights, respectively, and thencarry these ropes upward over pulleys 1 P journaled in the front wall ofthe weight shaft or box in which the weights more, and thence down onthe outside or in front oi said weiglrtsshait, the ends oi the ropeslast named terminating in loops or links 7' It is obvious that it thelinks r were rigidly held the falling of the weights \V V would open thedoors subst-z'tntially in the ordinary manner, and that it", after thedoors had been opened a sul'ticient length ol.- time, the ends of theropes provided with said links were let go the doors might be closed,the ropes R R slipping through the weights without lilting them.

I use to close the doors door-springs E, of any ordinaryconstruction,but not too strong to pre'jent the falling of the weights,or the doors may be closed by suitably-arranged cords and weights, theweights being smaller, of course, than those used to open the doors.

The apparatus described below is adapted to hold the links and then torelease said links after a suiticientinterval has elapsed from theopening of the doors to allow the engine to pass out, one set of lockingmechanism to to hold and release the link being used For -each door,this being reiulered nece try by the fact that the door 1) is firstclosed and then locked by springing the bolts ll ll into their sockets.

The two sets of locking mechanism are precisely alike, except. in thepropm-tions and positions ol the locking-levers, so that the followingdesm-iption applies to either set in all other respects. For conveniencethe locking mechanism which holds and releases the link oi? the rope Rwill be lirst described; but the letters of reference will be used todesignate corresponding parts oi either locking mechanism, except; thelo( -.king-lever. A vertical plate, Q, is secured to the trout side olthe weight-shalt, and is provided with vertical ears (1, between whichturns on a lmrizontal pivot, q, a hook, the t'orm of which is clearlyshown in Fig. 5, t hehook being adapted to engage one, 0"", of the linksabove named,

the pivot of said hook luring back ol the line of d raft of said link,so that; the springs E and the weight \V have a constant tendency tothrow the open end of said hook outward and upward into the positionshown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and to release said link and allow theweight to fall when the door is closed, and to allow the door to beclosed by said springs E after the weight \V has fallen.

llelow the hook and secured to the plate Q is a horizontal stud, g, atright angles to the pivot of said hook, on which stud turns alocking-lever, having an upward projection or short arm, q, long enoughto reach above the lower end of the hook and to prel vent said hooki'rom beingturned u nvard on Instead of fastening the ropes R R" totheits pivot to release said link. A spring, q, consisting of a spiralof wire one end of which is attached to the plate Q and the other ofwhich bears upon the long arm (f of the lever q", and tends to presssaid long arm downward and to carry the short arm q of said lever fromin front of thelower end of said hook Q2. The free end of the long armof said lever g rests upon and is prevented from falling by the long armq of the corresponding lever, q, or a projection, g from said long arm qoi the other set; of locking mechanism, until said arm is allowed tofall by the rotation of the cam K, as described below. The levers q arerespectively right-handed and lefthanded, and the lever g turns upon aseparate pivot. or stud, g and is actuated by a separate spring, q, justas the lever turns and is actuated. The shape and proportions of thelocking-lever q are such that its short arm q extends by thelink-holding hook of its set of locking mechanism (when the doors areclosed) in one direction farther than the short arm q of the otherlockinglever, (1", extends beyond the link-holding hook of the other setin the opposite direction, as shown in Figs. 3 and It results from thisconstruction that the cord R will be released sooner than the cord R"when the free end of the long arm of the lever q is allowed to fall. Thefree end of the long arm of said last-named lever rests upon theperiphery of a cam, ll, the latter turning upon a horizontal shaft, in,and caused to rotate by cloelc work or a train of gears, K, of anyordinary construetion, actuated by a mainspring, it", or weight, andprovided wit-h an eseapmnentwheel, M, escapementM, and pendulum lll",also of ordinary construction, except that no bob is used on thependulum. The cam K. is generally circular,ln1t is provided with acamnotch, 7.5, or depression to allow the long arm of the lever to Fallwhen the cam revolves. 'lhe clock-work is normally at; rest, and thelong arm of the lever g rests upon the eircular part of the periphery ofsaid cam when the doors l) l) are closed, the clock-work at such timesbeing prevented from working-by the pendulum being held from vibrationby a rod, N, which iirojects upward thwmgh. a hole, f, in the bottom ofthe clock-case in the path et said pendulum, and is held fromdroppingout of said path by lfriction on the sides of said hole 1" or the sidesof a tube or bushing placed in said holes, the rod N preventing thepallets m of the escapementtrom letting go the teeth of theescapement-wheel. The lower end of the rod N is connected to one end ofa com d, R, which passes under two grooved pulleys, p 19 the hangers ofwhich,

tom of the cam-notch 7f.

the door 1) is first closed by its springs and locked by the springingof the bolts 1; l, and

p, are secured to the under side of the floor F, and the other end ofsaid cord is connected to the outer end of the horizontal arm of thelever L, so that the cord R is practieally a continuation of the cord R.\Vhen the driver pulls the rope or cord R by grasping the ball 0", henot only unbolts the doors, which then open automatically, as abovedescribed, but he also sets in motion the clockwork, which will allowthe links 0" to escape from the hooks as above described, and allow thedoors tobe closed by the springs it, the time during which the doorswill 'remain open after drawing the bolts depending 5 upon the time ittalv'es for the outer end of the long arm of the lever q to reach thebot- I t will be seen that that the door l) is immediately after closedand locked to the door D by the spring-latches (Z (.1 above named.

It necessary that the door first closed should be securely fastened.before it can rebound or be blown open by the wind, in or der that theother door may be latched to it at the instant of its closing.

The clock is rewound by turning back the wrench K from the positionshown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 3, and is held from motionby raising the rod N into the position it occupies in Fig. 3 in the pathof the pendulum.

To prevent the links 2" from falling out of the locking-hooks byaccident, a latch, (1' is used, pivoted to the plate Q and normally heldin a horizontal position, but capable of being pushed upward by saidlinks to admit said links into said hooks.

The pulleys secured to the weights are, of course, only anti-iirietionpulleys, allowing the ropes to slip through the weights with as littlewear as possible on the ropes.

Obviously my improvement is applicable to 1 any self-closing door, andit is immaterial which end of the door-opening rope is released to allowthe closing of the door, because whenever the rope ceases to be coirnectwl at one point to i he door and at another to a stationary objectand between these points to he. held taut by the weight the door will heclosed automatically by the spring E, so that the clock-work and otherparts of the holding and releasing mechanism 5 might be attached to thedoor to hold one end 3 of said rope, the other end of said rope beingrigidly at tachiial to any fixed object.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The combination of a self-closing door, arope connect ed at one end to said door, one or more guide-pulleys overwhich said rope is carried, a weight sliding freely on said rope, a linkor loop attachei'l to the other end of said rope, a pivoted hook adaptedto engage said link and to be turned upon its pivotby the draft of saidrope to release said link or loop therefrom, a lockingdever arranged'infront of the open end of said hook to prevent said hook from turning onits pivot, a spring to turn said lever on its fulcrum, and clockworkarranged to prevent said lever from turning on its fulcrum for adelinite time and thereafter to release said lever, whereby said doormay be opened by the falling of said weight and allowed to closethereafter, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a self-closing door, suitable guide-pulleys, arope connected at one end to said door, a weight provided with a pulley,said rope passing under said last named pulley and over saidguide-pulley, a link or loop 'attaehed to the other end of said rope, apivoted hook adapted to engage said. link and to be turned upon itspivot by the draft of said rope to release said link or loop therefrom,a locking-lever having a short arm adapted when placed in front of theopen end of said hook to prevent said hook from turning on its pivot, aspring to turn said lever upon its fulcrum, and a cam provided with acam-notch and rotated by clock-work, the longer arm of said leverresting upon said cam and holding said short arm in front of said openend of said hook until the free end of said long arm enters saidcam-noteh, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of two self-closi n g doors, the inner edge of one ofsaid doors being adapted to overlap the inner edge of the other of saiddoors when the same are closed, suitable guide-pulleys, two ropes, eachconnected at one end to one of said. doors, two weights, each slidingfreely on one of said ropes, two links, one attached to the other end ofeach rope, two pivoted hooks, each adapted to ena one of said links andto be turned upon its pivot by the drawing of the rope to which saidlink is,attaehed to release said link therefrom, a locking-lever havinga short. arm, adztpteihwhen placed in front of the open end of one ofsaid hooks, to prevent said hook from turning on its pivot, a sprii'igto turn said lever upon its fi'ilerum, a cam provided with a cam-notchand rotz'tted by suitable LlOCk-Ulk, the longer arm of said leverresting upon the 'peri jlhery of said cam and holding said short arm infront of said open end of said hook until the free end. of said long armenters said cam-notch, and another locking-lever having a short armadapted to 'pre vent the other of said books from turning on its pivotwhen placed in. front of the open end of said last-namml hook, the freeend of the long arm of said last-namedlocking-lever resting upon. theion arm of said first-named locking-lever or upon a projection whichsaid last-named long arm is provided with and pressed upon the same by aspri n g, an d adapted to release its book before the other book isreleased by said iirstsnamed locking-lever to allow one of said doors toclose before the other of them, and said last-named spring, as and forthe purpose specified.

4. The combination of two self-closing doors,

the inner edge of one of said doors being pro vided with one or morelatches to engage with the other of said doors, two ropes, eachconnected at one end to one of said doors, one or more guide-pulleysover which said ropes are carried, two weights, one of which slidesfreely on each of said r0pes,links or loops attached to the other endsof said ropes, respectively, pivoted hooks adapted to engage said linksand to be turned upon their pivots by the draft of said ropes to releasesaid links or loops therefrom, and locking-levers, each arrangedin frontof the open end of one of said hooks to prevent the same from turning,springs to turn said levers upon their fnlernms, and clock mechanismarranged to prevent said lovers from turning on their fulernms for adefinite time and thereafter to release said levers one after the otherto allow said ropes to slip through said Weights, whereby said doors maybe opened by the falling of said weights and allowed to close one afterthe other, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I, the said CHARLES F. HEMENWAY, have hereunto set myhand this 21st day of June, A, D. 1886.

CHARLES 1*. I IEMEN \VAY.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, JosEPH W. PIPER.

